San Antonio Spurs Blog – Page 55 – NBA Blog

Spurs beat Clippers to take 3-0 series lead

Nothing was going to rattle the calm, cool and collected Spurs. Not even a 24-point deficit.

Tim Duncan scored 19 points, helping engineer a defining 24-0 run in the third quarter, and San Antonio defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 96-86 on Saturday to take a commanding 3-0 lead in their second-round playoff series.

”We didn’t plan on being down that much,” said Duncan, who at 36 is hungry to win the team’s fifth NBA championship and first since 2006-07. ”We stuck with it.”

Led by Tony Parker’s 23 points and his defense on an ailing Chris Paul, the Spurs kept running their plays even as Blake Griffin’s early offensive assault buried them in a huge hole. Griffin missed three shots in the first half, when he scored 20 points and carried his team to a 24-point lead despite a left hip injury and a sprained right knee…

Griffin had 28 points and 16 rebounds, and reserve Mo Williams added 19 points for the Clippers, who face some daunting NBA history heading into Game 4 on Sunday at Staples Center. No team has rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win a series…

Rookie Kawhi Leonard added 14 points and Manu Ginobili 13 to help the top-seeded Spurs win their 17th in a row and improve to 7-0 in the playoffs…

San Antonio led by 11 points early in the fourth before the Clippers got within seven on consecutive baskets by Williams. Gary Neal hit a 3-pointer to launch a 13-9 spurt, capped by Parker’s 3-pointer, that extended the Spurs’ lead to 89-78. Paul, so dominant in the final period during the regular season, was limited to four points…

The Spurs were 9 of 22 from 3-point range, with Leonard hitting three…

The Clippers have lost 29 of 33 games against the Spurs dating to Dec. 1, 2003.

— Reported by Beth Harris of the Associated Press

Spurs win 16th straight, lead Clippers 2-0

On his 30th birthday, Tony Parker first kept the San Antonio Spurs on pace for what might be another lopsided playoff sweep. Then the All-Star who’s always quick to needle Tim Duncan about his age finally acknowledged his own.

”I’m old. Used,” said Parker, laughing.

Chris Paul, meanwhile, isn’t acknowledging anything: Not his aching body that everyone but him is talking about, or the Los Angeles Clippers’ season careening toward the end this weekend unless things change fast.

Parker scored 22 points, Duncan had 18 and the Spurs beat the fading Clippers 105-88 on Thursday night, taking a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference semifinals and winning their 16th in a row with yet another playoff blowout.

For the 13th time in a winning streak that seldom run this long in the NBA playoffs, the Spurs won by double digits. Only two other teams have sustained a longer winning streak in the playoffs: the 2004 Spurs (17) and the 2001 Lakers (19).

”I think for us, is to not look at that,” Parker said about the streak. ”Concentrate on the task. We know Game 3 is going to be very, very hard. I think we should focus on that and not focus on the winning streak, or what we’re doing good.”

Paul responded to his awful Game 1 with only a slightly better encore, scoring 10 points as the Clippers now head home desperate to steer out of what’s starting to get the feel of a sweep.

Game 3 is Saturday in Los Angeles, and Game 4 is Sunday.

— Reported by Paul J. Weber of the Associated Press

Diaw, who went from late-March import to starting center in a French flash, scored 16 points and was a perfect 7-of-7 from the floor. Parker’s countryman, one month his senior, also added some surprisingly rugged defense on Blake Griffin, who again had to work for his 20 points, which came on 16 shots.

“He’s fit in pretty seamlessly,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of Diaw.

While the Spurs’ over-30 club was running amok — and getting four timely 3-pointers from 24-year-old guard Danny Green — Paul again looked like an AARP member shuffling to the earlybird dinner.

The 27-year-old All-Star muddled through a second-straight disaster, balancing his 10 points and five assists with a career-worst eight turnovers. In two games to start the series, the Clippers’ All-Star point guard is 7 of 21 from the field with 16 points and 14 turnovers.

Blame a strained hip flexor and bum groin, which have clearly limited Paul’s effectiveness. But also credit Parker.

— Reported by Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News

“They pass the ball so well that you can’t just key in and clog the paint,” forward Blake Griffin said. “They run their offense to a ‘T’ every single time, and that’s what makes them so difficult.”

Chris Paul, still fighting through injuries to his hip flexor and groin, struggled for the second game in a row. After committing five turnovers in the Clippers’ Game 1 loss, Paul turned the ball over a career-high 8 times Thursday.

“It’s just bad decisions,” Paul said. “…I just have to make better passes.”

In the playoffs, Paul’s turned the ball over 38 times – most in the NBA.

The Spurs continued to showcase all of their weapons, with Tony Parker leading five Spurs in double figures with 22 points. Tim Duncan added 18, and Boris Diaw scored 16, making all seven shots he took.

The Spurs hit 53.2 percent from the field and 76.5 percent of their shots in the third quarter, when the Spurs scored 32 points to blow the game open.

— Reported by Dan Woike of the Orange County Register

Spurs beat Clippers in Game 1 of 2nd round, reach 15 straight wins

The San Antonio Spurs had just taken Game 1, and Manu Ginobili didn’t want to hear another word about winning 15 in a row or not losing in more than a month.

”I don’t even want to know about that,” Ginobili said.

On the other side of the AT&T Center, Clippers’ All-Star Chris Paul needed no reminder that his wretched performance contributed to the Spurs’ 108-92 victory over Los Angeles in the opener of the Western Conference semifinals on Tuesday night…

Tim Duncan had 26 points and 10 rebounds following an eight-day layoff for the top-seeded Spurs, who wore down Los Angeles in what was the sixth game in 11 day for the Clippers. Game 2 on Thursday night will make it seven in fewer than two weeks…

The Spurs have won 15 in a row, haven’t lost since April 11 and are winning by an average margin of nearly 17 points during that span. It’s the longest winning streak in the NBA playoffs since the 2004 Spurs carried 17 straight wins into the second round that season…

Blake Griffin scored 15 points in 28 minutes a day after estimating his sprained left knee had him feeling ”80 percent” at best. The All-Star said he became tired quicker than usual, and also turned his left ankle early in the game…

Paul, who ended the first round with an aching hip, scored just six points and didn’t make a single basket in the second half. Parker was barely any better, putting together seven points and 11 assists, and didn’t talk to reporters after the game…

— Reported by Paul J. Weber of the Associated Press

One sign the Spurs had their legs: They made 13 of 25 on 3-pointers, tying a franchise playoff record, including three apiece from Kawhi Leonard (16 points), Danny Green (15) and Ginobili.

During the break between the end of the first round and start of the second, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich fretted the extended time off might discombobulate the rhythm his team had gained in the first round.

He paced his team through every-other-day practices, including full-squad scrimmages, trying to keep his players sharp.

“You’ve got to do whatever you think is necessary to try to keep your rhythm, keep your conditioning and not get anybody hurt,” Popovich said.

After some early struggles — such as nine first-half turnovers — the Spurs rounded into form. Up by eight at intermission, the Spurs put together a 26-11 run in the third quarter to build a lead that got as large as 19 points.

— Reported by Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News

Thing is, the Spurs just keep coming after you in waves while pulling player after player out of their deep pool of reserves. Each one of them is effective and makes and not impact in their own right, with some as good or better than the starter they are replacing.

When someone is struggling, as Parker did while scoring just seven points on 1-of-9 shooting, Ginobili can pick up the slack with 22 points and Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green can combine to hit six 3-pointers and score 31 points.

“Everyone else got it going, and they’ve done that before,” Paul said. “And Tony is such a great player he’s still going to get everyone involved.”

When Popovich eventually found the right mix of personnel, the Spurs dropped a 26-15 hammer on the Clippers to build a 19-point third-quarter lead.

Meanwhile, the Clippers were left to look around wondering what the heck just happened.

“We were scrambling around a little bit at that point,” Griffin said. “And you just can’t do that against a good team like the Spurs.”

— Reported by Vincent Bonsignore of the Los Angeles Daily News

LeBron James is winner of 2011-12 NBA MVP award

LeBron James of the Miami Heat is the winner of the Maurice Podoloff Trophy as the 2011-12 NBA Most Valuable Player Award, the NBA announced today. James earns the honor for the third time in four seasons and becomes the first player since Michael Jordan to win at least three MVPs.

James totaled 1,074 points, including 85 first-place votes, from a panel of 121 voters that consisted of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada as well as an NBA.com MVP fan vote. For the third consecutive season, the NBA and Kia Motors America gave fans the opportunity to submit their votes by ranking their top five choices through a dedicated Web page on NBA.com. The fan vote counted as one vote and was compiled with the 120 media votes to determine the winner. Players were awarded 10 points for each first-place vote, seven points for each second-place vote, five for third, three for fourth and one for each fifth-place vote received.

Rounding out the top five in voting are Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant (889 points, 24 first-place votes), the Los Angeles Clippers’ Chris Paul (385, six first-place votes), the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant (352, two first-place votes), and San Antonio’s Tony Parker (331, four first-place votes).

James led the Heat to a 46-20 mark and the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Despite averaging a career-low 37.5 minutes, the eight-time All-Star led the NBA in plus-minus score differential (+7.6) and ranked third in scoring (27.1 ppg), while pacing the Heat in assists (6.2 apg) and tying for the team lead in rebounds (7.9 rpg). In addition, James established career bests in field goal percentage (.531) and three-point field goal percentage (.362).

This season, James was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month twice (January and February), and he captured Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors six times, extending his NBA record for the most Player of the Week awards to 37. James has scored double-figure points in 419 consecutive career games, the seventh-longest streak in NBA history, behind Michael Jordan (866), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (streaks of 787 and 508), Karl Malone (575), Moses Malone (526), and Oscar Robertson (428).

The NBA MVP trophy is named in honor of the late Maurice Podoloff, the first commissioner of the NBA who served from 1946 until his retirement in 1963.

Read NBA fan opinion and share your views in this basketball forum topic.

Spurs complete 4-game sweep of Jazz

The San Antonio Spurs were feeling good Monday night after sweeping their first-round Western Conference series with the Utah Jazz.

They also were feeling some pain.

”I’m sore,” said reserve Stephen Jackson, who played 26 minutes in the down-to-the wire 87-81 victory. ”Those guys play hard.”

Fortunately, the Spurs are going to get some rest before the next round.

San Antonio awaits the winner of the Grizzlies-Clippers series, which may not be decided until Sunday. The Clippers lead 3-1 after winning 101-97 in overtime on Monday night…

Star sixth man Manu Ginobili hit consecutive 3-pointers after the Jazz had pulled within 61-58 late in the third quarter. And after the Jazz rallied from 21 down to get within four on Al Jefferson’s put-back in the final minute, Ginobili turned a steal by MVP candidate Tony Parker into a layup that sealed the win.

”I wasn’t making many shots, but I wasn’t taking that many either,” said Ginobili, who was 0 for 8 from 3-point range in the first three games but had three 3s Monday and finished with a team-high 17 points…

Parker had 11 points on 4-of-14 shooting Monday, Duncan added 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting, and starters Kawhi Leonard, Boris Diaw and Danny Green combined for a total of eight points. The Spurs’ bench picked up the slack, outscoring Utah’s reserves 57-10 and finishing with 27 more points than their own starters.

— Reported by Lynn DeBruin of the Associated Press

Ginobili had 17 points to spearhead a 57-10 edge for the Spurs’ bench and help overcome the first mediocre nights of the playoffs from Parker (11 points, 4 of 14) and Tim Duncan (11 points, three blocks).

Ginobili hit his first three 3-pointers of the series during a 15-0 second-half run that helped the Spurs build a 21-point lead with 6:17 to go.

At that point, Utah center Al Jefferson seemed a prophet. Maybe somebody could beat the Spurs, but it wouldn’t be the Jazz.

Then, with the Spurs’ key players on the bench — presumably to be mothballed until the second round — Utah sprang to life.

Jefferson finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Paul Millsap had 10 and 19. Derrick Favors, shifted into the starting lineup as Utah coach Ty Corbin opted to go jumbo, had 16 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.

“They junked it up,” Duncan said. “They got real physical and real active, and found a way to make plays and get back into the game.”

— Reported by Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News

The Jazz started with a big lineup because Corbin hoped putting 6-10 Favors in with 6-8 Millsap and 6-10 Jefferson would give Utah an inside advantage on offense and defense against the Spurs.

But Utah sputtered out of the gates again, only scoring 19 points in the first quarter. A 21-3 Spurs run, reminiscent of the killer 20-0 surge San Antonio had in the 31-point Game 2 blowout, helped the deep and deadly visitors go into the locker room with a 50-42 lead.

Jefferson scored a couple of baskets in a row for the Jazz in the middle of the second half, but there was a big problem between those two makes. Namely, Utah suffered through dry spell that lasted eight minutes and nine seconds, during which Ginobili hit three 3-pointers and scored 10 points in a 15-0 Spurs run.

San Antonio stretched that lead to 21 before Utah dug deep one last time. Even that last lineup was reflective of the Jazz’s season makeup, considering it included veterans-trying-to-prove-themselves in Jefferson, Millsap and Devin Harris, a young up-and-comer in 20-year-old Favors and a player trying to find his way in the league in DeMarre Carroll, who was picked up in February after Denver waived him.

— Reported by Jody Genessy of the Deseret News

Al Jefferson says Spurs are better than Jazz

Jefferson said he hasn’t competed against a team comparable to San Antonio during his eight-year career. And three separate times during an interview Sunday, the Utah big man acknowledged the Spurs are stronger than and superior to the Jazz.

“It gets to the point where you’re just playing a team that’s better than you; that know what it takes to win and know how to win,” Jefferson said.

He added: “If you lose to a team because you didn’t play your best, that’s one thing. If you’re playing your best and doing everything that you can, and you’re just playing against a team that’s better than you, that’s another one.”

— Reported by Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake Tribune

Parker helps Spurs take 3-0 lead over Jazz

Through nearly 40 minutes, the Utah Jazz made Tony Parker look average.

He had 11 points on 5-of-12 shooting, and the San Antonio Spurs were clinging to a five-point lead.

Parker the MVP candidate then took over.

”They threw a lot of guys at me, so I needed to be more patient and then in the fourth quarter I was more aggressive,” said Parker, who hit all five field goals and went 6 of 6 from the line in the final period to finish with 27 points.

His effort fueled a 102-90 victory Saturday night that gave the Spurs a 3-0 lead in the first-round Western Conference playoff series…

”He’s a handful and he’s very physical,” Parker said about Favors, who had 15 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks in his most extensive action of the series. ”He goes to the boards hard.” …

Harris, after scoring just 12 points in the first two games combined, had 12 in the first quarter and finished with 21.

Al Jefferson also rebounded from two sub-par games and finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds on 10-of-18 shooting…

While Favors was 3 of 7 shooting in the fourth, Utah’s other budding star struggled down the stretch.

Burks was just 1 of 6 in the fourth quarter and finished with 11 points.

— Reported by Lynn DeBruin of the Associated Press

Spurs wreck Jazz 114-83 to take 2-0 lead

Tony Parker scored 18 points and Kawhi Leonard added 17 as the Spurs raced to a 114-83 blowout victory over Utah Wednesday night at the AT&T Center.

The victory gave the Spurs a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 series. Game 3 will be played in Salt Lake City on Saturday night.

It was the third largest victory in the Spurs’ playoff history and the largest since a 122-88 victory over Sacramento on April 22, 2006.

The Spurs shot 57 percent from the field and had a balanced scoring attack featuring seven players in double figures.

It stretched the Spurs’ consecutive winning streak to a season-best 12 games, including the last 10 games in the regular season.

Josh Howard and Al Jefferson scored 10 points apiece to lead Utah, which shot 34 percent from the field.

Wednesday’s victory punctuated a big night for Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who was presented the Red Auerbach Trophy as the NBA’s Coach of the Year in ceremonies with Tim Duncan and David Robinson on the court shortly before tip-off.

The Spurs blew the game open with a run of 20 consecutive points late in the first half. During the run, Utah missed 12 straight shots and committed three turnovers in the drought that stretched for nearly seven minutes.

— Reported by Tim Griffin of the San Antonio Express-News Blog

Gregg Popovich Named 2011-12 NBA Coach of the Year

San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich is the recipient of the Red Auerbach Trophy as the 2011-12 NBA Coach of the Year, the NBA announced today.

Popovich, who also earned the honor in 2002-03, totaled 467 points, including 77 first-place votes, from a panel of 119 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Coaches were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote. The award was tabulated by the independent accounting firm of Ernst & Young LLP.

In his 16th season as head coach of the Spurs, Popovich guided San Antonio to a league-tying-best 50-16 (.758) record. With Popovich at the helm, the Spurs ranked second in the league in scoring (103.7 ppg) and point-differential (+7.2). In the second half of the season, however, the Spurs were the league’s most dominant team, posting an NBA-best 26-6 (.813) record while averaging league highs in scoring (108.3 ppg) and point-differential (+10.8). In the process, Popovich guided the Spurs to their 15th consecutive postseason berth, which is the longest active streak in the NBA.

The Spurs finished the season winning 10 straight games, 24 of their last 27 and 38 of their last 45. San Antonio won at least 50 games for the 13th consecutive season – all under Popovich’s tenure – surpassing the Los Angeles Lakers (1979-80 to 1990-91) for the longest streak in NBA history. The Spurs also set a franchise mark with three double-digit winning streaks.

Popovich was named the Coach of the Month in February and March, giving him 14 Coach of the Month awards in his career, the most in league annals. His back-to-back wins marked the second time Popovich earned consecutive coaching honors (November and December, 2010).

The longest tenured coach with the same team in all four major professional sports, Popovich holds the best winning percentage of the longest tenured coaches in the other three major professional sports (.679). In addition, his 847 victories with the Spurs ranks second all-time in NBA history for most wins with one team (Jerry Sloan, Utah Jazz, 1,127)

Popovich also supports the NBA Coaches for Kids program, a league initiative in partnership with the NBA Coaches Association and Boys & Girls Clubs of America launched during the 2008-09 NBA season. To date, the program has provided more than 155,000 Boys & Girls Club members with the chance to attend NBA games. Youth participants also have the opportunity to meet with NBA coaches, general managers and athletic trainers and learn the fundamentals of the game, the values of sportsmanship and teamwork, and the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.

The Coach of the Year Award is named after legendary coach and Hall of Famer Red Auerbach who guided the Celtics to nine NBA Championships. In 1996, Auerbach was honored as one of the Top 10 Coaches in NBA History as the NBA celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau finished second in the voting. Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel finished third. Memphis Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins finished fourth. And Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers finished fifth.

Tony Parker scores 28, Spurs beat Jazz in Game 1

Tony Parker scored 28 points and added eight assists to lead the Spurs to a 106-91 victory over Utah Sunday afternoon in Game 1 of the NBA playoffs at the AT&T Center.

The victory snapped a six-game losing streak of Game 1 losses in the Spurs’ most recent playoff series. And coming into Sunday’s game, the Spurs had won only two of their 10 most recent playoff games.

But a big effort by the Big Three help lead them to the victory. Tim Duncan added 17 points and 11 rebounds and Manu Ginobili added seven points in the victory.

The Spurs are 12-0 this season when Ginobili, Duncan and Parker combine for at least 50 points this season.

The Spurs are 27-6 in NBA playoff series where they won the first game.

New acquisitions Stephen Jackson accounted for 14 points and Boris Diaw scored nine for the Spurs, who claimed their 11th straight victory this season.

Paul Millsap led Utah with 20 points and nine rebounds and Al Jefferson added 16 points and nine rebounds.

The victory came despite an injury to Tiago Splitter, who sustained a sprained left wrist in the second quarter and did not return. Splitter finished with four points and a rebound in seven minutes.

— Reported by Tim Griffin of the San Antonio Express-News (Blog)